They decided to say stop. Two days after seeing one of its shocks, the remake of the last final between Asvel and Monaco, fighting behind closed doors after a first postponement, the Jeep Elite decided this Thursday to close its doors until the end of the month. Like all of world sport, the French Basketball Championship has to bow to the advance of the coronavirus.
After heated discussions and a consultation sent to professional clubs on Thursday, the National Basketball League (LNB) has decided to postpone all scheduled games between March 12 and March 31. A decision taken in a hurry, the day before several meetings. In Chalon-sur-Saône, the club had made its arrangements by postponing to Friday its trip to Châlons-Reims, which it had to face in the evening.
“I don't see how we can play under these conditions, launches the president of the Burgundian club, Dominique Juillot. It no longer meant anything, except to measure the economic losses that we suffered during matches behind closed doors. "
"I was one of those who thought that it was at least necessary to play behind closed doors this weekend, admits his Gravelines counterpart Christian Devos. But we cannot put our staff and the adversaries at risk. We have in our team a suspected positive case that performs a coronavirus test. If it is positive, containment measures should be put in place. "
Asvel in quarantine?
Another French club, Asvel, could also find itself in quarantine for having faced Real Madrid, where a player tested positive a week ago. According to L'Equipe, the decision is now in the hands of the Regional Health Agency (ARS). Internally, French clubs must also manage the anxiety of American players while Donald Trump announced on the night of Wednesday to Thursday the ban on Europeans from coming to the United States from Friday.
"They want to leave France," describes Dominique Juillot. And I know very well that once they get home, they won't want to come back. I do not judge them, I would also prefer to be sick near my home than at the other end of the world. But if we resume the championship without them, where will sport equity be? I think that if we are not in normal capacity to resume the championship, we must consider that the season cannot go to an end. "
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"A white season would be tricky for French basketball," slips Christian Devos, also a member of the LNB's steering committee. Is it impossible? I cannot answer this question today. We are in the unknown. Like the whole world.